We report on two patients with deep trichophytosis (associated with abscess formation) of the pubogenital region as a result of regular intimate shaving. The individuals concerned were a 21-year-old male asylum seeker (from Syria) who had been living in Germany for one and a half years and a 16-year-old woman of Romanian descent. Both patients had initially been admitted as inpatients to a general hospital. Although there had been no evidence of bacterial infection, they had received intravenous broad-spectrum and reserve antibiotics. There were no signs of other sexually transmitted diseases. Clinical examination revealed an exquisitely painful, ill-defi ned erythematous area on the mons pubis with sharply delineated follicular erosions (Figure 1 ). While KOH and BlankophorTM examinations were negative, dermatophyte PCR allowed for detection of Trichophyton (T.) benhamiae (formerly referred to as Trichophyton spp. of Arthroderma benhamiae ) in a biopsy taken from the male patient and a hair sample from the female patient. Fungal cultures confi rmed the dermatophyte species; in this case, the "yellow phenotype" of the fungus [ 1 ] . Sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region of rDNA (18S rRNA, ITS1, 5.8S rRNA, ITS2, and 28S rRNA) and of the translation elongation factor-1-alpha (TEF-1-alpha) gene showed a 100 % match with T. benhamiae for Strain 1. Sequencing of the ITS region of rDNA was not performed with Strain 2. Both patients received oral terbinafi ne 250 mg daily (given the female's age, she received the drug off label (individual therapeutic trial) pursuant to current legislation on medicinal products). While the young woman reported frequent contact with guinea pigs and dwarf rabbits, the man denied any such contact. However, the source of infection might also have been a girlfriend who had had contact with various animal species during a previous vacation in Thailand. At follow-up eight weeks later, both patients showed postinfl ammatory hyperpigmentation with residual scarring.


The article gives an overview of the need for on-board monitoring and diagnostic system for railway track machines. The technique of separation of groups of elements to be diagnosis. Offered a block diagram organizing principle of human-computer interface and method of implementing a modern system for monitoring and diagnosis on railway track machines.


L-band radar remote sensing of soil moisture has been the subject of research for several decades and has seen increasing attention in recent years. Soil moisture inversion from radar backscatter measurements in the presence of vegetation is a complex and difficult task. Several methods for deriving soil moisture estimates from such measurements have been explored, but these methods typically require the availability of a robust forward model and/or the use of ancillary data such as a vegetation estimator. This study presents a retrieval algorithm which requires neither an advanced forward scattering model nor ancillary vegetation data.


Objective To investigate the clinical manifestation of patients with cerebral infarction complicated with type 2 diabetes mellitusMethods 56 patients with cerebral infarction complicated with diabetes were experimental group,and 57 patients with cerebral in control group didn′t have diabetes.The clinical manifestation,treatment and the prognosis in experimental group were compared with those in control group in prospective study.Results The experimental group suffered from heavier injure of brain than those with cerebral infarction(P0.05).The experimental group had significantly higher levels of f blood pressure,blood glucose levels,postprandial blood glucose,glycosylated hemoglobin,lipids(P0.05),and a significantly lower level of the treatment.The control group had lower mortality(P0.05).Conclusion This study suggests the experience group have higher disability,diabetes became an independent risk factors of acute cerebrovascular disease.The control of blood glucose and blood pressure and decrease of blood lipid are important way to prevent diabetes mellitus combined with cerebral infarction.


In contemporary auditing career, internal auditors are confronted with various potential conflicts, besides, their interpersonal relationships within organizations are also rather complicated. Therefore, marketing tactics must be adopted in the internal auditing procedure so as to succeed in identifying, predicting the demands from the managements at all levels for the benefits of the organization and providing effective internal auditing service accordingly to gain their confidence and supports which will be of further help to better the relationships between internal auditors and the managing personnel at all levels or even all members, providing a harmonious interpersonal atmosphere for the internal auditors finally. Internal auditors should develop and implement such internal audit marketing tactics as to collect their clients attitude to internal audit, to market internal audit to the board, to the high-level management and even to the whole organization.


Review of "A Linguistic History of the Forgotten Islands: A reconstruction of the protolanguage of the Southern Ryukyus", by John R. Bentley


This paper reviews some problems from five aspects such as being good at querying to enlighten students to think on their own,giving examples skillfully to arouse study interesting,summarizing timely to improve study efficiency,linking with clinic to cultivate the practice capability and using multimedia reasonably.


This paper considers the problem of 3-D surface reconstruction from the observation of the occluding contours where the view lines graze the surface. It has been shown that reconstruction of such a 3-D surface is possible when the camera motion is known, except for the fully concave parts where no view line can be tangent to the surface. We propose a direct method of global surface reconstruction which is based on the regularized uniform bicubic B- spline patches. The experimental results are presented on synthetic and real data.


Flow past an isolated permeable sphere has been studied. The complete Navier-Stokes equation governs the fluid motion outside the sphere, while Brinkman's extension of Darcy's Law is assumed to hold within the porous sphere. The Navier-Stokes equation is solved using a finite difference scheme. The flow within the porous sphere is solved in two different ways, each being efficient over a particular range of Reynolds number. Drag Coefficients are presented for dimensionless permeability, β, of 5, 10, 15, and 30 and for Reynolds numbers up to 50. The computed drag coefficients are within 10% of the experimental values observed by Masliyah and Polikar for 15 33, the range covered in their work. Separation was observed only for β > 10. The onset of separation is delayed considerably in porous spheres.

On a etudie l'ecoulement au voisinage d'une sphere permeable et isolee. L'equation complete de Navier-Stokes regit le mouvement du fluide a l'exterieur de la sphere, tandis qu'on suppose que l'extension de Brinkman de la Loi de Darcy s'applique a l'interieur de la sphere poreuse. On resout l'equation de Navier-Stokes en employant un systeme de differences finies. On resout le probleme d'ecoulement a l'interieur de la sphere poreuse en procedant de deux manieres qui sont egalement efficaces sur une gamme particuliere de nombres de Reynolds. On presente les coefficients de traǐnee dans le cas d'une permeabilite adimensionnelle (β) de 5, 10, 15 et pour des nombres de Reynolds allant jusqu'a 50. Les valeurs des coefficients de traǐnee calcules se tiennent a 10% des valeurs experimentales observees par Masliyat et Polikar dans le cas de 15 10. Il se produit un retard considerable pour le debut de la separation dans le cas ou les spheres sont poreuses.


An efficient synthesis of hexakis(trifluoromethyl)cyclopentadiene 4,
which shows a remarkably low reduction potential, is described. Various
donors promote one-electron transfer to 4, leading to corresponding salts
of pentakis(trifluoromethyl)cyclopentadienide 5. A novel approach to the
synthesis of metal derivatives involves heating, or photolysis, of 4
directly with metals (including Cu, Ni, Fe and Co), leading to the
corresponding ionic salts. X-Ray structural analysis was difficult because
of rotation of trifluoromethyl groups in these salts, but structural data
on 20, 24 and 30 has been obtained that reveals interesting conformations
and stacking of the ions.


Altered mental status is a common presenting complaint in adult medicine with a broad differential diagnosis. When found in the context of chronic medical conditions, less common etiologies can be overlooked. We present a case of acute altered mental status thought to be secondary to acute on chronic hyponatremia in the context of syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone secretion (SIADH), eventually diagnosed as non-convulsive status epilepticus, partial type. We report the case of a 67-year-old patient with known SIADH of unknown etiology, hypertension, chronic pancreatitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who presented with fatigue, myalgia, decreased urine output. On presentation patient also had profound acute on chronic hyponatremia. During sodium correction, the patient developed an acute, progressive decline in mental status. Vital signs remained stable and workup including LP and MRI were negative. Initial electroencephalographic (EEG) showed no definitive seizure activity, but did show bifrontal focal continuous slowing. The patient's mental status continued to decline and upon further evaluation it was suggested that the EEG findings and the patient's progressive AMS could be compatible with non-convulsive status epilepticus. The patient received loading doses of IV lorazepam and levetiracetam and within 48 hours after initial treatment was back to baseline. Non-convulsive status epilepticus is a common, but heterogeneous subclass of status epilepticus that is difficult to diagnose. This case demonstrates the difficulty of diagnosing normalized corrected Shannon entropy (NCSE) in the context of other chronic medical conditions and the importance of including it on any differential diagnosis for acute change in mental status.


ONE HUNDRED TWENTY ANNOTATED REFERENCES ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY BY AUTHOR FOR EACH YEAR IN WHICH THEY WERE PUBLISHED ARE PRESENTED. AUTHOR, GEOGRAPHIC AND SUBJECT INDEXES ARE INCLUDED. MOST REFERENCES RELATE TO THE UNITED STATES, HOWEVER, WHERE PERTINENT, REFERENCES FROM FOREIGN PUBLICATIONS ARE INCLUDED. THERE IS A CONSIDERABLE RANGE OF SUBJECT MATTER, INCLUDED CURB PARKING AND OFFSTREET PARKING, BOTH LOTS AND GARAGES. OTHER ASPECTS OF PARKING ARE INCLUDED - SUCH AS METERS, FACILITY DESIGN, STUDY REPORTS AND RELATED REFERENCES.


FIELD: compositions for external application. SUBSTANCE: liquid composition of oil-in-water type for topical application contains 30-50 mas.% in terms of total mass of composition at least one glycol, conforming emulsifying system and at least one active agent. The liquid composition has preferably viscosity from 3 to 10 Pa.c (3000-10000 centipoises). Viscosity is determined with the help of Brookfield viscosimeter model LVDV 11+engine No. 4, at rotation speed of 30 rpm for 30 s and at temperature 25±3 C. The composition simplifies external use of active agent and possesses adhesive ability preserving glycol properties optimal for absorption. EFFECT: improved efficiency. 15 cl, 2 ex


THE EDITORS of the Dictionary of American English have collected so many novel and interesting words from various sources that I hesitate to suggest any additions to the marvelous store which they have provided. Perhaps they might have found room for the following: BASHFUL WAKE-ROBIN; also called Rosy Wake-robin (Trillium stylosum Nutt). A perennial herb growing in the woods from Georgia to Alabama and North Carolina as well as in the woods of the Piedmont region and adjacent areas. CHARA (NL.; cf. Lat. chara). A plant belonging to the family Characeae; also called featherbeds, stonewort, and horse watertail. It is remarkable as a producer of food for young fishes.1 CHERIMOYA, CHIRIMOYA, CHIRIMOYER. A small tree (Anona cherimolia Mill), a native of Peru; also the fruit of this tree. The name came into English from eighteenth-century Spanish chirimoya, the designation of the fruit. Though Middendorf does not record the Kechuan source, Lenz suggests that Sp. chirimoya is an adaptation of Kechuan chiri, 'cold,' and muyu, 'wheel,' 'circle'-literally 'cold, round fruit.'2 I have not been able to find Kechuan chirimoya, a form given in Webster (2nd). Cherimoya is used in Florida, especially in the southern part of the State.


The zero gap electronic bands in the monolayer graphene are shown to be unstable relative to the dynamic symmetry violation due to the electron-phonon interaction.


Liberals have long celebrated the era of Ida Tarbell, Upton Sinclair, and Lincoln Steffens as a time when journalism defied entrenched moneyed interests to align itself with organized labor and the...


Some achievements in the study of the Deep Seismic Sounding profiling along Xinjiang Global Geosciences Transect (GGT) have been published in succession. This paper focuses on the comparison of the seismic phases along the whole profiling and the investigation of the relationship between crustal structure and geological evolution. The profile extends from the West Kunlun Mountains across Tarim Basin and the Tianshan Mountains, and terminates at the southern margin of Junggar basin, approximately 1 200 km long. Totally 12 shot points were designed along the profiling. During the field experiment 20 tons of explosive charges were used to generate seismic wave and 120 sets of seismographs were put into use for observation. As a result, totally 973 effective 3 component records were obtained. On the reduced travel time sections, 6 seismic phases (P g,P 2,P 3,P 4,P m,P n) were recognized. The final crustal velocity model was built by inverse calculation and ray tracing modeling. The final model indicates that the thickness of the main part of Tarim basin varies in the range of 38~46 km.The model also reveals that the Moho dips southward beneath southern Tarim basin at an angle in concordance with the angle of the crystalline basement. From central uplift of Tarim to the front of West Kunlun, the depth of the Moho increases from 40±2 km to 57 km. Further southward beneath the northern part of West Kunlun, the Moho interface suddenly becomes flat and the depth also decreases to 54 km. Based on the surveyed results that crystalline basement is uplifted, lower crust thickens beneath the northern part of West Kunlun, and huge sediments exist in the foredeep of Tarim, the authors have reached the conclusion that the crust of southern Tarim basin subducted a limited distance and depth beneath West Kunlun. In the region of Tianshan Mountains, The P n phases, with a velocity of 8.15 km/s, were recorded clearly. The Moho interface appears at an average depth of 52 km and the crust has a quite complex structure with a low velocity layer (3~7 km in thickness, 5.6 km/s in mean velocity) in the middle crust. It is also found that Moho is gently uplifted under Central Tianshan and is obviously ruptured under the boundary between Central Tianshan and North Tianshan. The thicknesses of various layers composing the crust vary remarkably in the lateral direction, and the structural characteristics suggest that the crust has been shortened as a result of the compression both from the south and from the north.


vide a complete and rounded picture of Newman? The answer is, emphatically, no.Almost a third of his published work is made up of volumes of sermons.Yet only one chapter, situated near the end of the book, is devoted to this subject and is the shortest and weakest of all, the author offering little more than a stylistic analysis of Newman's preaching. Yet it was as a preacher—and thereby also, in his particular case, as a theologian taking much of his inspiration from the Church Fathers, a hard-headed and penetrating psychologist, and a spiritual guide—that Newman first made his mark and continues to enrich the intellectual and spiritual life of Christians. Are we to conclude that the themes of this preaching lie outside the scope of "theology" and are irrelevant to its concerns? The academic world has yet, it seems, to take full account of this dimension of the man and his work.


Field studies were conducted on orange orchard in Middle Egypt. The seasonal abundance and parasitism of the citrus leaf-miner (CLM), Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) were estimated from10 March, 2011 till 25 February, 2013.Three generations of P. citrella and four peaks of parasitism had been observed during the two seasons of investigation. Six species of parasitic insects, Baryscapus sp., Cirrospilus pictus, C. quadristriatus, Pnigalio mediterraneus, Semielacher petiolatus and Sympiesis sp. (F. Eulophidae) were obtained from larvae and pupae of this pest and reared in the laboratory under room temperature.


The article presents the activation of movement in space using various types of sounds, presenting the author's model of working with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities. The first theoretical part, in which the importance of music and sound for development and therapy was presented, became an introduction to the second applied part, in which sounds activating movement and moving in the space of students with intellectual disabilities were presented. Using the proprietary model of sound and movement classes, the recipients of which were students with intellectual disabilities, the characteristics of the four modules of the classes were specified, detailing Module IV entitled Movement on Earth – Pedestrians and drivers. Its primary goal was to activate and provoke specific – correct and conscious movement in space through consciously selected and used sounds. The movement was activated by a specific type of sound, enriched with a simple picture and word – written and spoken, thanks to which every student with disability experimentally gained knowledge and the ability to understand space and consciously move in it.


The Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering (CCEE) department offers both a master and doctoral level program, and cuttingedge research covering various facets of Civil Engineering theory and practice. A knowledgeable and experienced group of faculty members work closely with students to provide them with the tools required to succeed professionally in globally-competitive work environments.


The laser shock peening(LSP) was applied on TC6 titanium alloy,the distribution of the residual stress in laser shock peened layer were tested,and the microstructure was observed by transmission electron microscopy.The results show that the optimal power density of laser shock peened layer of TC6 titanium alloy was 4 GW·cm-2,LSP could cause high residual stress field on material surface,and the residual stress was as high as 530.4 MPa.High density dislocation and nanocrystalline were found on titanium alloy surface after laser shock peening,and the nanocrystalline size was 10-100 nm.


To filter out the abnormal data from engineering signal is important in signal preprocessing.This paper introduced the statistical methods which are used to reject the abnormal data,including the Chauvenent's Criterion,the Dixon's Criterion,Grubbs' Criterion and the PAu-Ta criterion.There are limitations in using above criterions to process large sample signal,so this paper introduced a new method to reject the abnormal data,then use PAu-Ta criterion and this new method to process an actual engineering signal.The result indicates that the new method can better solve the problem.


Abstract : The Navy's current inventory management procedures for receipt, inventory, stowage, and issue of provisions onboard ships have remained relatively unchanged for decades. Culinary Specialists are utilizing an antiquated and unreliable inventory management program (the Food Management System-FSM) developed in the 1990s, relying on hand written receipts, and inventory and issue procedures to manage provisions across the Fleet. As a result of current practices, ships are experiencing an unusually high rate of inspection failures, and poor inventory validities. Applying a strategic supply chain management approach, current procedures from receipt to issue of provisions will be described, including collecting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data. Conclusions and recommendations will be offered on ways to substantially improve the overall process, e.g., improve inventory validities, reduce manhours and improve the quality of life for Culinary Specialists.


Abstract Abstract. Factors associated with the evolution of sexual dimorphism in sockeye salmon were examined by relating individual behavioural correlates of reproductive success with morphological measurements in both sexes. Adult salmon were captured, measured and tagged, then released and observed in Iliamna Lake, Alaska. Males were generally larger than females (447 versus 428 mm) and had larger dorsal humps and more elongated jaws for their length. Indices of male reproductive success varied considerably among individuals (e.g. 0-12 observations in dominant status). Male social status was positively associated with both length and dorsal hump size, independent of length. All resident females completed spawning and only nine of 82 had their nests dug up by other females. However, size-related variation in spawning-site location was observed; larger females tended to spawn in shallower water than did smaller females. Thus reproductive success apparently varied much more in males than in females. Consistent with the theory regarding the evolution of sexual dimorphism, the greater variability in male reproduction was directly associated with the greater average size and exaggerated shape of males.


A series of preparations of benzene of a high degree of purity were made by fractional distillation, by azeotropic distillation with ethanol, and by crystallization followed by centrifuging. The following physicochemical constants were measured: boiling pOint, 80 .094 ±0.002° C; freezing point, 5.51 ±0.01° C; refractive index n 2D' 1.49807 ±0.00006; and density at 25° C, 0.87366 g/cm3 ± 0.00002. Previous determinations of these constants, as reported in the literature, are reviewed.


This project is demonstrating Robot Navigation Control using Isolated Word Recognition. Five spoken word commands (Go, Stop, Left, Right and Back) should be record and used as commands. Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is used to filter the noise by creating butter worth filter. The noise cancelation method is then used to make the software sensitive and recognize the word Normalization, Power density spectrum and voice fingerprint method are used and implemented by MATLAB programming code. Then the command signal of recognized word is sent via XBee, wireless connection to robot. The robot will receive and response to the spoken command signal by a PIC microcontroller which will control the robot movement. © 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of the Centre of Humanoid Robots and Bio-Sensor (HuRoBs), Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA.


In one attempt to produce a simple inexpensive nozzle, a 2-in. diam plate with 37 holes was investigated (Stadler, 1960), anticipating that the small jets emanating from the plate would combine to form a uniform stream. This experiment was unsuccessful because a uniform flow was not established until the flow had progressed many nozzle diameters downstream. However, an extension of this concept to a much larger number of very small jets, viz., a porous plate, did provide a method for producing a uniform, low Reynolds number jet almost immediately downstream of the nozzle (Greene, 1973). The method is described and some typical jet velocity profiles for nozzle Reynolds numbers from 50 to 1000 are given.


The present invention provides a system for delivery of content data to a user location. The content data is preferably includes a digital video data available at the time of request from the requesting location. System server stores user accounts and generates an ordered program schedule for a user account on the basis of the criteria of the user, including the user's preferred destination. Authenticated users to access the account and change the self of self-reference, and choose the program transmission destination. Preferably, the computer and the television set receives the program transmitted from the destination system, the network, where the computer provides the logical interface between the content data and the television set sent on the system network.


IN a number of papers published in this Journal during the last few years I have investigated in detail the response of certain excitable tissuies to electric currents of varying duration. From these researches it appears that not only different tissues examined under like conditions, but also like tissues examined under different conditions of temperature and of surrounding medium, show well-defined differences in their response to such currents. All tissues examined behave alike in one matter; in every case the weakest current which will excite becomes progressively smaller as the duration of passage is increased up to a certain limit, and beyond that limit the same strength of current is required whatever the duration. It is in the duration of cuirrent at which this lowest limit of the exciting current is reached that a clear difference is found to exist between unlike tissues examined under like conditions or between like tissues examined under different conditions. There is no need to reproduce here the detailed observations on this matter which have already been published'. It will be enough to recall the broad facts which have beeni established. It has been shown that the current-duration at which the lowest limit of the exciting current is first reached is shorter in the motor nerve-fibres to the toad's gastrocnemius than in the sartorius muscle-fibres of the same animal, is shorter in certain tissues of the frog than in the corresponding tissues of the toad, is shorter both in muscle and in nerve when these tissues


The right to life is one of the fundamental rights. There are many moral and legal debates on the right to life of embryos and fetuses. Aside from the debates on whether the embryo/fetus can be considered a human and person, determining the moment when the fetus acquired the legal capacity and personality is important for the legal protection of the embryo/fetus. In addition to the crimes and abortion, with the technological developments in biology, the violations of the right to life of the fetus have increased. Especially with the implementation of assisted reproductive treatment methods, new debates arose about the right to life of IVF embryos. Besides that, genetic diagnostic test applications, spare and research embryos have revealed the importance of determining the legal status of the embryo/fetus. The legal status of the embryo and fetus within the national legislation is still unclear. In the decisions given by the ECHR, it hasn't reached a definite judgment about when the right to life begins. ECHR, in most of its decisions, didn't discuss the right to life of the embryo/fetus. When the court found the issue worth discussing, it concluded that the fetus didn't have the right to life before birth.


Motivated by results on molecular clusters formed from octahedral connectivity in NbF5 and by simulation and neutron diffraction studies of liquid AlCl3 and related materials, we discuss the gaseous n-mers of AlCl3 built from corner-sharing or edge-sharing tetrahedra. We use an interionic force-law model to evaluate the energetics of these clusters and examine their relevance to liquid structure near freezing and at higher temperatures as determined by means of classical molecular-dynamics simulation.


There are have been performed samplings for an annual cycle in a shallow lake placed in the Depression of Padul (Granada). Its waters are highly mineralized, strongly buffered. It shows two periods of thermal stratification where clinogrades curves of oxigen developes.


562 A. Perhaps <C Sxne ]>, a>? ov K.T.\., &<TT€ governing ayeiv574 A. ravra 8' «<£o?> a\r)drj . . . (pavepd fioi Soxei fiapTvpia eivai K.T.X. 575 C. For TOW oe rat? atrtat? read ev Be Tat? alriais. The alriat are, I suppose, the causes of the TeXo?, i.e. the details (TO, eVt /lipovs) of the development from which the TeX<>9 finally emerged. 565 D. <pikr)8ovia<} elBos is a puzzling expression, and Bernardakis' Â.09 from 718 D quite unsuitable, I am afraid, to the verb i^veyxe. I can suggest nothing better than Trddoi. ird6o<; and ^#09, ^#09 and 6*809 sometimes get confused. 582 A. ov8efua<} yap Te%v?79 <j£fnreipoi<;'^> ? Cf. aireipo? following. 586 A. evpelai fiev yap arpaTcoX fiuov, oX'vyat §' a9 Sai/iove? avdpanrov; ar/ovaiv. It is perhaps rather the characteristic of an a,Tpair6<s not to be wide; but in any case, the antithesis here presented is a very odd one. When we consider that the natural opposite of few is many, we have little difficulty in seeing that evpelai is a mistake for fivpiai, infinite in number, made easier by v ending the word before it. 594 F. etyofiuu, not hrofiai. 602 B. oa-mv<CvC> S« ? This is only a variation on Cobet's ov. HERBERT RICHARDS.


The conventional thermal theories are inventively modified for analyzing the ignition behaviors of solid propellants. Based on the modification of the thermal theory with the boundary condition of constant heat flux, the effects of heat flux, pressure, threshold of heat flux and absorbability on the radiant ignition of solid propellant are elaborated. The innovations of theoretical analyses are consistent with most of experimental results depicted in literatures. That the increase of hot gas velocity increases the ignition time of solid propellant is verified to be attributable to the decrease of hot gas temperature, ascertaining insight of the thermal theory with the boundary condition of flowing hot gas. In addition, a tentative estimation of pressurization rate effect on ignition time of solid propellant is proposed.


Reiterating his earlier charges of Administration in action in the Knickerbocker-; iDlvfe eases. Judge Hubert T. Delany last Friday told a delegation of more than twenty. |i9feseritiiig thirteen campus organizations, that the students must act if they hope; Ifce foll»wiiijt siatenent wa<: issued by the siiHtefits who rjN^tf,Judge Delany Friday evening: We. the undersigrned. have heard Judge Delany give con-" errte evidence that the administration has not acted in a fori-• anner in the Davb-Knickerbocker cases and we are con-that his statement* merit a great deal of thought by the body. We feel that President Wright's statements of last week are weak in light of the facts in the situation. We demand that Knickerbocker and Davis be suspen led until they are brought to trial and, if it is definitely established th^ Davis has no tenure, that he be immediately dismissed. If by the end of this week the administration has failed to **, we then call upon the student body to take the boldest-fcrthright action to force the Administration to do so. to tafee the cliance of (rttimc "ame thing happen aga* "At the rate thing* are going r«KS. MAWtT N. WMGIIT ar w. o t«i i id the faculty of bipots and • • end discrimination at th<» (k>llege. i ' tating that "the lirtie has come! ; when students have the right toi-determine the kind of instructors', { who leach them." Delany called for; |the rallying.of community groups! jtn the fight. ([ Commenting further on Davis, j [Pres. Wright called him "a maof I of maturity'' who did a superb; jjob for the College while Army. I Uall administrator. | "Another hearing," codtinued ' • j the Prexy, "would be a travesty. i of justice and I will support no request for a reopening of the> leases without new evidence." j Tenure Questionable: Delany The question of Davis tenure-• vas also hit upon by Judge De-my. **The by-laws of the Board Higher Edocatton." emph*s*xed • magistrate, "state that time •-<! in administrative positions not count towards tenure.-spent less than two consec-years in an instructional •. so how can the President that ilavis <iettnilely has. ion asketl whetner he would • t Pre>. Wright in a Great Hall: nsr-ion txrfore tlte scudent body. I»elariy i*plie«i tuat be would wel-<Mme the opportunity to do so. JiNt^T-Delany expressed the opinion that the handling of the Dpvi.- .-Knickerbocker cases in a …


Exergames have been shown to be effective in helping older adults maintain their physical abilities. However, it is sometimes difficult for older adults to experiment with exergames due to a perceived digital divide. In this work, we propose to bridge this divide through infusing familiarity design into exergames. Specifically, we identify five sub-constructs of familiarity, namely prior experience, positive emotion, occurrence frequency, level of processing, and retention rate. We evaluate the correlations between these five sub-constructs and familiarity through a field study involving 59 Singaporean older adults. Four exergames designed with different interfaces and tasks were sequentially played by the participants. Questionnaire and interview data about the participants' assessment of the five sub-constructs and the overall familiarity on different exergames were collected. The analysis results show that all five sub-constructs have significant positive correlations with familiarity. Moreover, there is a high positive correlation between the participants' perceived familiarity of the exergame and their satisfaction with the exergame. Informed by these results, we propose familiarity design guidelines based on the five sub-constructs for age-friendly exergames.


Trichilemmal tumours are the tumours derived from the hair follicles. Malignant counterpart of these tumours is rarely encountered when compared to the benign ones. We present a case of recurrent malignant proliferating trichilemmal tumour in an elderly male


The problem of cheating and test item theft continues to grow in all of the countries that make substantial use of high stakes examinations to make decisions in admissions, school evaluation, selection and promotion, and other critical areas.  The problem has existed for decades and can be found even in historical records going back to the time of the emperors in China and to the Middle Ages and earlier in Europe. In recent years, technology-enhanced efforts to cheat have become increasingly common.  Cameras are concealed in everyday objects - eyeglasses, watches, pens, jewelry, etc.  Sophisticated communication devices relay answers into the testing room to test takers with concealed and hard to detect receivers.  Literally dozens of devices are being used and the validity of test results is being undermined to a very troubling extent. The first presentation, by a leading test security professional from the UK will describe activities that are intended to deter or detect such technology-enhanced efforts to cheat.  The first presentation will describe the kinds of devices readily obtainable from the Internet and how proctors or invigilators can be trained to detect attempts to use such devices.  Attendees for this presentation will see specific and practical examples of methods to build the skills and knowledge of test administrators, our first line of defense for test validity. The second presentation will describe an effort to cooperate across a number of testing entities in Asia to scope out the technology-based cheating problem.  What cheating and test theft efforts are being attempted? What counter strategies are being employed and to what effect?  How are test administration policies and procedures being revised?  What are the test security practices that seem most in need of revision in the light of these technology-based cheating efforts? The final presentation will address detection and follow-up on efforts to cheat and to steal test items of otherwise comprise test results, by changing the answers to questions or altering test scores, for example. Methods being employed and their strengths and weaknesses will be reviewed.  A model detection and investigation program will be presented.


For lung transplant recipients (LTRs) influenza infections pose a considerable risk for complications. These infections have mainly been described in hospitalized patients. The aim of this study was to describe characteristics of predominantly outpatient‐treated influenza infections.


Abstract Three samples of potassium zeolite A, containing 1, 3, and 5 additional potassium atoms per primitive unit cell, were prepared through the controlled reaction of dehydrated potassium zeolite A with a calibrated amount of potassium vapor. The structures of these materials, and that of the host dehydrated K 12 -A, were determined by Rietveld refinement of powder neutron diffraction data. The structures of K 12 -A and the most lightly loaded sample with one extra potassium atom per unit cell (K 1 /K 12 -A) were refined in space group Pm 3 m assuming disorder of Si and Al. For the more heavily loaded samples K 3 /K 12 -A and K 3 /K 12 -A a superlattice was observed, resulting in a doubling of the unit cell in space group Fm 3 m . This superlattice arises as a result of potassium ordering. On potassium inclusion additional potassium sites K3 in the sodalite cage and K4 in the α cage are observed. At low loadings occupation of the site in the sodalite cages begins. The separation between the first of these two sites and K1 on the opposite of the 6-ring windows is such that the two sites cannot be occupied simultaneously, leading to occupation of the second new site facing the 4-rings of the α cage. The occupancies of these two new sites increase with increasing loading levels until ordering occurs. At limiting loading a tetrahedron of K3 forms in each sodalite cage, with alternate α cages containing 8 K1 and 12 K4, respectively. The possible role of K 3+ 4 in directing the formation of the superlattice is discussed.


Thousands of flights were banned and millions of people have affected in Europe in 2010. This was the first natural event which caused a wide and long flight ban in the world, the biggest shut down after Second World War. The damage in European countries is estimated as figure as billions of Dollars and in particular, a damage of 10 million Pounds a day was estimated for Britain. Because of the volcanic event and its development, aviation authorities of European countries decided to restrict the use of airspace, progressively as the ash cloud was spreading. From April 15th to May 21st were restricted airspace, airports were closed, flights canceled and passengers repressed, so it became the longest period of inactivity in air traffic after the second world war. International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimated losses of 1.1 billion pounds, affecting 1.2 million passengers per day which accounted for 29% of world aviation. The Airport Operators Association (AOA) estimated losses of 80 million pounds in six days and a half, for a total of 100,000 flights canceled. Volcanic eruptions are different each one, as to which its style determines the chemistry, physical and chemical components, and particle size of volcanic ash. During an eruption, the lava can flow slowly like a thick liquid (Efussive) or may be accompanied by ash and gases (Explosive). Explosive eruptions pose the greatest risk to aviation because they are always accompanied by ash production. Shafil system is in the process of design and integration to mitigate the intake ash into aircraft engine. It generates a negative electric field to ionize gas around, so that the dust particles receive the negative charge then be carried to a surface with an opposite polarity, and eventually be collected for packing. Introduction On 20th March 2010 the Iceland Volcano was erupted and continued for 3 weeks for the first time. Thousands of flights were banned, and millions of people have affected in Europe [1-4]. This was the first natural event which caused a wide and long flight ban in the world, the biggest shut down after Second World War. The damage in European countries is estimated as figure as billions of Dollars and in particular, a damage of 10 million Pounds a day was estimated for Britain. After few days, the new safety rules are announced to overcome the damages: if the ash particles are less than 2 milligram per cubic meter, the aircraft is allowed to fly. Research to avoid these encounters effect was due to three great volcanic eruptions around the world, such as a Galunggung volcano in Java 1982, Rebdout volcano in Anchorage 19891990 and Mount Pinatubo volcano in the Philippines 1991 [5]. Recently the most important encounter with volcanic ash cloud was produced by the Iceland volcano Eyjafjallajökull 2010, which caused interference in air traffic over EU and economic losses. In 24th June 1982, Galunggung volcano: Sulfur odor and a heavy dust were noted by the British Airways Crew. The aircraft was onto the Indonesian airfield, about 37,000 ft altitude, when all four engines lost power until flameout [6]. The aircraft descended to 12.500 ft altitude, when the pilot could restart the engines. An engine shut off again, and the crew had to do an emergency landing in the Jakarta airport. On the surface of compressor and turbine blades a solidified volcanic ash layer was found. It was found that under this layer the blades were eroded [7]. The ash affected wing leading edge, cockpit windshield, pitot tubes, and contaminated the fuel tanks, and the air and oil systems. 15 December 1989, Rebdout volcano: a Boeing 747-400 was descending for landing in Anchorage, Alaska, encountered a volcanic ash cloud. Attempting to climb out of the ash cloud, and after have gained 3000 ft altitude, all four engines were shut off [8]. Engines 1 and 2 were restarted at 17,000 ft, and at 13,000 ft, engines 3 and 4 were restarted. Damages were estimated at $80 million because of, none all four engines were airworthy and were replaced, as well as, Pitot static probes, all leading edge areas, VHF antennas, windshield, cockpit and cabin windows, owing to the erosion. Also, the ash polluted oil, hydraulic fluids and fuel [9-11]. 15 June 1991, Mount Pinatubo volcano: to the volcanic eruption was joined by a typhoon, which caused a spread quickly the volcanic ash, producing many encounters in one day [12]. The most important and detailed encounter was with a Boeing 747, at 29.000 ft altitude, about 1,100 km away from the volcano. The crew reported a short circuit odor and a thin fog throughout the aircraft.


Earthquakes have the potential to cause large-scale destruction of civil infrastructure often leading to significant economic losses or even the loss of human life. Therefore, it is vital to protect civil infrastructure during these events. Structural vibration control provides a method for mitigating the damage to civil infrastructure during earthquakes by absorbing seismic energy from the structure. Semi-active control has emerged as an attractive form of structural control due to its effectiveness, inherent stability, and reliability. One semi-active control device particularly effective in reducing the response of civil structures subject to near-field earthquakes is the resetting semi-active stiffness damper (RSASD). Substantial research has been conducted to develop the RSASD and demonstrate its control performance. However, like other semi-active control technologies, the RSASD relies on a multi-component feedback control system that is subject to reliability issues. The purpose of the proposed research is to develop a novel resettable stiffness system that is capable of achieving a similar control performance to the RSASD, but with fewer feedback components. The resulting device, the resetting semi-passive stiffness damper (RSPSD), will offer increased reliability without compromising effectiveness. The objective of the present work is to present the concept for the RSPSD, develop a mathematical model describing its resetting, identify critical design parameters, and then evaluate its control performance for single-degree-of-freedom structures subject to an earthquake ground motion. Numerical results indicate that the RSPSD is capable of comparable control performance to the RSASD for the structures and earthquake ground motion considered.


Two conformations of the cis‐cyclohexano‐8‐crown‐3 molecule were detected at 185 K. From relative 13C NMR peak area measurements, the conformation with the O— CH2— O unit equatorial was found to be favoured by 4.4 ± 0.4 kJ mol−1. In the spectrum of the minor conformer at low temperature, a 9.6 ppm 13C chemical shift difference is present between the two methine carbons. Transannular 1,4 H–H interactions are deemed to be partly responsible for this effect. Merck Molecular Force Field (MMFF) calculations indicate a preference of ca 1.8 kJ mol−1 for the most populated conformation. A boat–chair conformation is present in the 1,3,6‐trioxocane ring of the major conformer whereas a twist boat–chair is preferred in the minor form. Two other conformations with populations of ≥ 1% were identified. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Alzheimer's disease(AD)is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and the most common form of dementia.The disease is confirmed by the presence of neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles.The clinical diagnosis of AD depends on pathology and it is very time-consuming.The lack of early diagnosis of AD becomes critical bottleneck that hinders the effective treatment.As a result,looking for sensitive and specific,non-invasive biomarkers of AD is very important for the early diagnosis.In this review,we will discuss the various candidate markers in four spheres and their current status in AD diagnosis.We will respectively introduce cerebrospinal fluid,blood,urine and saliva biomarkers of AD,respectively.


This paper proposes a modified Asymmetrical Single-Phase Multilevel Inverter (ASP-MLI) with minimum number of power semiconductor devices. This inverter is extendable to any number of levels by cascading the basic units. The basic unit consists of two isolated DC sources and six power electronic devices, out of which two devices are bidirectional. This modified inverter is driven by three switching schemes. Among the three schemes, the last scheme is capable of generating more number of levels when compared to the remaining two schemes for the given number of power electronic devices and isolated DC sources. The modified ASP-MLI is compared with the conventional asymmetrical multilevel inverter in terms of number of power devices and Total Harmonic Distortion (THD). The proposed ASP-MLI is simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK and the results are presented.


The Argentinian Chaco is the most extensive phytogeographic region of the country. The forest resource is the principal source of wealth, and it is found in an alarming state of deterioration. The objective of this paper is to explain the growth as a function of age of S chinopsis quebracho-colorado (Schlecht.) Barkl. et Meyer, Anacardiaceae. Ten trees with DBH (diameter at breast height, 1.3 m) over 30 cm, from the natural forest of Los Pirpintos, Copo Department, Santiago del Estero, Argentina, were studied. The methodology adopted for the study is that of Helinska. Growth was determined by epidometric analysis. Growth rings are moderately boundary distinct (type 3 Coster). Average tree ring thickness is 2.19 mm (1.6 y 4.5). Ring thickness varies significatively with age and is not correlated with this variable. Growth rings have a maximum thickness at 61 years old. The evolution of shaft volume and the age are positive correlated, the same as the diameter, normal section and total height. The variables DBH, normal section area, total height, MIA, IA and age adjusted to second degree polynomial functions. Crown diameter/age, crown diameter/DBH, crown section/normal section area adjusted to logarithmic functions. DBH correlates positively with crown diameter and age. For the relationships of growth it is estimated a technological cut shift over 250 years.


In the first step of crystallization screening, the protein is exposed to a wide variety of reagents at different concentrations. Once a "hit" deemed to be conducive to crystallization is identified, parameters such as precipitant concentration, pH, and temperature are used to produce crystals suitable for analysis by X-ray diffraction. Crystals, crystalline precipitate, and phase separation are usually considered leads that are worth pursuing. Clear drops are mostly disregarded. This paper presents a screening technique that makes use of clear drops. Clear drops are subjected to evaporation with the aim of driving them to supersaturation. The findings reported bring a new dimension to screening and open up the scope for utilizing a potential wealth of crystallization conditions that are currently being ignored. Furthermore, this technique enables the utilization of far less protein sample and allows us to obtain the hits in shorter times.


Bearing in mind an ever more demanding market regarding the quality of food, it has been necessary to develop processes that meet the demands of consumers. Within the existing processes the cold chain and irradiation stand out. The cold chain comprises all the stages of conserving food from production, cooling, freezing, storing and transportation to the final consumer. Irradiation, as a means of conserving food, prolongs the shelf life, inhibits budding and reduces pathogenic contamination among other benefits. Is very important the identification of food degradation in function of failure on the processes which they were subjected. The comet assay is a screening test widely studied, considerate fast and with low cost. By the fact of the test identify breaks on the DNA, may be possible use the comet test on the control of cold chain failures that degrade de food. The labels and stamp, do not consider the previous food situation and indicate failures from the moment where they be placed in contact with the product. With the comet assay is possible to check the degradation that has occurred in liver chicken samples until the moment of comet ́s test realization.


The renormalization of the Schr"odinger equation with regular One Boson Exchange and singular chiral potentials including One and Two-Pion exchanges is analyzed within the context of NN scattering.


Letter to the Editor-in-Chief of JOSPT as follows: Response to July 1987 Letter to the Editor-in-Chief J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 1987;9(4):131. doi:10.2519/jospt.1918.104.22.168


perspective I myself share, but more important I think it is a perspective shared by an MLA constituency rather larger than is ordinarily acknowledged. For many of us came to the study of writing because we ourselves were writers or would-be writers, and many of us continue to be creative as well as critical writers. (And here I should remind you that if we construe the word poet in the largest sense-the sense in which Shelley was probably using it-the poet is of course what we nowadays call a creative writer, a member of a species to which such MLA presidents as Carolyn Heilbrun and Catharine Stimpson, as novelist-critics, also belong.) As you know, those of us who are creatures of this sort-creators as well as critics-don't


Cationic copolymerizations of 4-methyl-2-methylene-1,3-dioxane, 2 (M 1 ), with 2-methylene-1,3-dioxane, 1 (M 2 ); of 4,4,6-trimethyl-2-methylene-1,3-dioxane, 3 (M 1 ), with 2-methylene-1,3-dioxane, 1 (M 2 ); of 4-methyl-2-methylene-1,3-dioxolane, 5 (M 1 ), with 2-methylene-1,3-dioxolane, 4 (M 2 ); and of 4,5-dimethyl-2-methylene-1,3-dioxolane, 6 (M 1 ), with 2-methylene-1,3-dioxolane, 4 (M 2 ) were conducted. The reactivity ratios for these four types of copolymerizations were r 1 = 1.73 and r 2 = 0.846; r 1 = 2.26 and r 2 = 0.310; r 1 = 1.28 and r 2 = 0.825; r 1 = 2.23 and r 2 = 0.515, respectively. The relative reactivities of these monomers towards cationic polymerization are: 3 > 2 > 1; and 6 > 5 > 4. With both five- and six-membered ring cyclic ketene acetals, the reactivity increased with increasing methyl substitution on the ring.


The science education community has only recently begun to examine the way in which principles of ground water occurrence and movement are taught and learned. Results from these studies (Dickerson, D.L., and K.R. Dawkins. 2004. Eighth grade students' understandings of groundwater. Journal of Geoscience Education 52, no. 1: 178–181, and other references at http:// www.odu.edu/~ddickers/groundwater.htm) indicate that alternative ideas relative to those held by the scientific community flourish regardless of geography, socioeconomic status, race, gender, and age in the United States. The majority of these ideas involve inappropriate mental models that impose surfaceoriented hydrologic structures and processes on subsurface environments and/or employ inaccurate ideas of scale. For example, children and adults commonly picture most ground water as literally occurring in large underground rivers or lakes that are contiguous bodies of pure water that look exactly as they do above the ground and either sit stagnant or flow between a layer of soil and a layer of rock. Such conceptions are common even after successful completion of introductory undergraduate geology courses. Most of these students, however, describe ground water using scientific terms such as porosity and permeability; yet, the application of appropriate scale is another issue as many of these students identified a typical pore size to be on the order of kilometers. Additionally, for most children and adults, the notion of fluid and gas movement in solid rock (as opposed to unconsolidated materials) and the forces responsible for ground water movement remain mysterious. Alternative ground water conceptions change little throughout the course of most people's education, and development of a complete and appropriate understanding of ground water without direct instruction appears highly unlikely. Providing effective instruction in K to 12 classrooms is problematic, however, as most teachers hold inappropriate understandings of ground water. Because of the variety of traditional and alternative teacher education/licensure programs within and across universities, states, and the nation, geology course requirements for teachers vary. Specialized courses (e.g., hydrogeology) are rarely ever required of teachers primarily because teacher licensure programs result in a comprehensive science license rather than one focused on a specific science discipline. Furthermore, the concepts these teachers are required to know in order to provide instruction aimed to meet the goals described in local, state, and national standards are assumed to be addressed in one or two introductory courses in a variety of science disciplines. This assumption is incorrect in the case of ground water. The issue of competence in teaching ground water principles is further complicated because in the world of formal science education, ground water is not a priority. A prime example involves the National Science Education Standards (a document from which the majority of the states and school systems in the country develop goals for K to 12 science instruction), which call for a complete and appropriate understanding of water cycle processes. However, their depiction of a water cycle focuses almost entirely on surface-oriented processes. In fact, the term ground water is never mentioned in the document. Instead, as opposed to repeated references to surface-oriented processes involved in the water cycle, subsurface processes are explicitly referred to only once as water that collects in ''soil, and in rocks underground'' (National Research Council. 1996. National Science Education Standards. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, p. 160). The practical implication for classroom instruction is that ground water concepts become marginalized, or worse, expendable. As adults, this lack of understanding translates into the inability to make informed decisions as voters, parents, and citizens regarding personal and public health, environmental stewardship, and sound economics. Readers of Ground Water understand better than any other group the importance of ground water to the health and prosperity of the public. It is critical that you get involved in education. We propose three areas of initial involvement: (1) practice and encourage teaching for deeper understanding of ground water concepts, using examples that stress appropriate scale, particularly in introductory courses; (2) lobby for more explicit inclusion of ground water in standards and curricula at the state and national level; and (3) work with science educators to provide professional development opportunities for practicing science teachers. Such efforts have proven successful in the past. For example, in 1999, the Education and Industry Committee for Earth Science in North Carolina, a group composed of earth scientists and science educators, successfully lobbied for an earth/environmental science requirement for all graduates of North Carolina public high schools. A similar group of informed and devoted hydrogeologists and educators can do the same to make ground water a priority in science education.


Cachexia is a condition characterized by hipercatabolism (e.g. involuntary weight loss) that can occur in some types of cancer. This reduction in lean body mass contributes to increased morbidity and mortality in cancer patients. So, interventions that can preserve muscle mass are critical to improve cancer patientsquality of life. A series of studies have shown that exercise can minimize the loss of muscle mass in AIDS, diabetes or in atrophy by disuse. Among exercise models, resistance training presents a special interest since it can preserve and/or increase muscle mass. Nevertheless, the mechanisms by means resistance training acts are not well known. The aim of this review was to evaluate the mechanisms involved in the effects of resistance training on cancer patients. The literature showed that these effects are a consequence of the increased protein synthesis promoted by hormones and cytokines. In the future, the better understanding about these mechanisms could be used to proper exercise prescription to cancer patients.


Asymmetric electrode (Ag and indium tin oxide (ITO)) influence upon ferroelectric switching dynamics in polyvinylidene fluoride‐hexafluoropropylene (PVDF‐HFP) thin films across Ag/PVDF‐HFP/ITO capacitor structures is systematically investigated. Grazing incidence X‐Ray diffraction (GI–XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and UV–visible spectroscopy are utilized to comprehend the structural and microstructural characteristics of PVDF–HFP thin films upon ITO interface. Low voltage rectified and asymmetric current–voltage (I–V) curves reveal the varied barrier potential due to the asymmetric electrodes. Typical squared hysteresis loops along with uniform domain growth model are verified from quasi‐static and dynamic ferroelectric loop measurements. Further, from low‐frequency (10 and 15 mHz) quasi‐static and dynamic (100–1000 Hz) triangular pulses, the switching time, domain dimension with respect to frequency, and amplitude of the electric field are separately evaluated and noted that smaller switching times when electron traverses from Ag to ITO electrode.


Electricity cost has become a major expense for running data centers and server consolidation using virtualization technology has been used as an important technology to improve the energy efficiency of data centers. In this research, a genetic algorithm and a simulation-annealing algorithm are proposed for the static virtual machine placement problem that considers the energy consumption in both the servers and the communication network, and a trading algorithm is proposed for dynamic virtual machine placement. Experimental results have shown that the proposed methods are more energy efficient than existing solutions.


Consumers are exposed on a daily basis to more and more advertising. A key strategy that some advertisers have embraced in the face of this increasing level of media clutter is to integrate their advertising with media content. In Study 1, we show that if the viewer is highly engaged by the content and transported into the world of the program, then an integrated ad can be more intrusive to consumers' transportation experience. In such cases, advertising effectiveness is reduced when consumers are more transported into the media content. However, Study 2 shows that if the advertising does not intrude on the transportation experience, an integrated ad could benefit from having similar themes as the media contents. Therefore, a high level of media transportation leads to increased advertising effectiveness.


Phospholamban (PLN) plays an important role in cardiac calcium cycling and contractility and is a crucial determinant of '-adrenergic stimulation in the heart. Generation of mouse models with genetically engineered alterations of PLN expression levels or PLN mutation allowed a thorough understanding of the physiological role of PLN in vivo. These studies also provided us insight for potential therapeutic approaches in human heart disease. However, cardiac calcium cycling and excitation-contraction coupling differ significantly between human and mouse and further studies are required to elucidate the physiological and pathological role of PLN in humans.


Despite stringent safety requirements imposed upon nuclear installations, the need for adequate insurance cover is motivated by the consideration that a nuclear accident could lead to very grave consequences. To marshal the large insurance capacity required, national pools were formed in many countries, which may enter into arrangements with other similar national pools to increase their own capacity with a view to an appropriate spread of the risks involved. In the absence of a national nuclear pool, application for nuclear insurance would normally be made to the national insurance market association concerned. Virtually every type of nuclear risk is insurable; various forms of material damage and liability insurances are available. The financial liability of nuclear operators is established by national legislation on the basis of international conventions. Insurance coverage is linked to the operator's amount of liability established by law. A third party nuclear liability insurance policy usually consists of three parts: Part I covers the operator's liability under his domestic nuclear legislation; Part II provides non-nuclear power for accidents on the site up to a separate liability limit selected by the operator; and Part III provides cover for costs. Other types of insurance deal with damage to the sitemore » and the installation (material damage), consequential losses, contingent liabilities of suppliers of goods and services (products liability), nuclear material in transit and nuclear-propelled ships. (auth)« less


: The quantification is required about application feeling of the skin lotion when it is designed and evaluated. In this paper, we propose a system that estimates the application feeling by temperature measurement in order to realize an objective and quantitative evaluation. We measured the temperatures on the finger-shaped sensor and the applied table during the application of the lotion. The measurements were conducted by a proposed measurement system that simulates the application movement. Seven independent features were calculated from the measured temperature waveform, and the relationship with the five application feelings was modeled by multiple regression analysis. The resulting estimation model of the application feelings showed high accuracy. Therefore, we concluded that the proposed measurement system is applicable for estimation application feeling of the skin lotion.


Let X be a Baire space, Y be a compact Hausdor space and f : X◊Y ! R be a separately continuous mapping. For each y 2 Y , we define a game G(Y,{y}) between players O and P, to show that if in this game either O player has a winning strategy or X is -favorable and P player does not have a winning strategy, then for each countable subset E of Y , there exists a dense G subset D of X such that f is jointly continuous on D ◊ E.


Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of titanium oxide films has been performed for the first time under ultra-high vacuum (UHV) conditions. The films were deposited through the pyrolysis reaction of titanium isopropoxide, Ti(OPr^i)_4, and in situ characterized by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). A small amount of C incorporation was observed during the initial stages of deposition, through the interaction of precursor molecules with the bare Si substrate. Subsequent deposition produces pure and stoichiometric TiO_2 films. Si–O bond formation was detected in the film-substrate interface. Deposition rate was found to increase with the substrate temperature. Ultra-high vacuum chemical vapor deposition (UHV-CVD) is especially useful to study the initial stages of the CVD processes, to prepare ultra-thin films, and to investigate the composition of deposited films without the interference from ambient impurities.


Abstract A sensitive HPLC method for the quantitation of trimethoprim in plasma and urine was developed using fluorescence detection. Plasma (or urine) samples were made basic by the addition of 3.8N sodium hydroxide and extracted with chloroform:2-propanol (95:5). After evaporation of the organic layer, a portion of the residue was analyzed by HPLC with fluorescence detection. The minimum detectable quantity is 0.1 μg/ml for this method. This method has been applied to the analysis of plasma and urine obtained from subjects after a single 160 mg dose of trimethoprim.


Fully quantitative stock assessments for skipjack tuna are difficult to conduct and therefore, alternative methods of investigating current stock status are required. As a first step towards designing applicable HCR for the Indian Ocean skipjack fisheries, we explore the size based information available in IOTC and the possible pathways to make them useful for the management of this species. We use this information to assess on the sustainability of this fishery and the different gears they are composed of, using Froeses"s guidelines of sustainability. We also classify each fishery in relation to the size segment they exploit according the length based decision tree and HCR from Cope and Punt (2009). With the preliminary set of parameters used in this work, this fishery can be considered as "Fish maturity ogive" and within reference biomass levels, as currently, the proportion of mature individuals (Pmat) is above 0.9. However, the Pmat of this fishery has recently been below the benchmark of 0.9, which would in turn classify it as below reference levels of biomass that would recommend action to increase Pmat above 0.9. The gears that exploit a larger proportion of immature fish are trolling and baitboat.


The mixed convective heat transfer in a fluid-saturated porous medium has been investigated numerically using the generalized non-Darcy model. The problem governing equations including the continuity, the generalized DarcyBrinkman-Forchheimer extended momentum and the energy transport equations were thereby solved using the finite difference method. The flow governing parameters including the Darcy, Richardson and Peclet numbers, and the length-toheight aspect ratio were varied in the range 10 -3 ≤ Da ≤ 10, 0.1 ≤ Ri ≤ 10, 1 ≤ Pe ≤ 10 3 and 0.5 ≤ AR ≤ 4 respectively while the Reynolds number was held constant at a value of Re = 100 for all computations. The results are presented in the form of the streamlines and isotherms contours, and the profiles for horizontal component of velocity, temperature and the local heat flux. The results show that all the flow governing parameters have strong influence on the flow pattern and heat distribution within the enclosure.


DOI: 10.1002/adma.201400217 superelasticity. Among numerous MSMAs, tensile and compressive stress-strain characteristics suggest a two-stage phase transformation, that is parent phase (B2 or L2 1 austenite) normally transforms to fi ve layered (10M) or seven layered (14M) modulated martensite at low stresses, before fi nally transforming to tetragonal (L1 0 ) martensite [ 27 ] at higher stresses. Ni 54 Fe 19 Ga 27 is a representative system to investigate stress induced multi-stage martensitic phase transformation. By using ex-situ mechanical testing, Sutou et al. [ 27 ] observed a two-stage phase transformation, a low stress induced L2 1 -to10M/14M 1 st stage transition, followed by a 2 nd stage 14M-toL1 0 phase transformation at higher stresses. Hamilton et al., [ 28 ]


Administration of increased number and the dosage of antibiotics are resulting in the emergence of microbial strains that are resistant to antibiotics. Klebsiella pneumoniae is one such microorganism. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of ginger extract on a biofilm of Klebsiella pneumoniae. The effectiveness of a standard antibiotic was also checked and the results were compared with those given by ginger extract.


Significance The development of novel degradable biocomposites can contribute to answering the increasing global demand for sustainable materials. We present a method to obtain self-bonded biocomposite materials from cultured plant cells. Subjecting cells to a cold-compression molding process creates hierarchical biocomposites that have stiffness and strength comparable to commodity plastics, while being 100% biodegradable in soil. Introducing fillers expands the attainable functionalities, demonstrating the versatility of the proposed platform. The use of fast-growing plant cells offers the benefits of short harvest time, zero biomass waste during processing, in situ manufacturing, and no arable land requirement. The approach allows the possibility of further tuning the final material properties by genetically engineering the processed cells.


The problem of diagonalizing hermitian matrices of continuous fiunctions was studied by Grove and Pederson in 1984. While diagonalization is not possible in general, in the presence of differentiability conditions we are able to obtain positive results in the case of $2\times 2$ matrices. It remains open whether our results can be extended to $n\times n$ matrices.


By analytically studying random walk generating functions on a wide class of disordered branched structures we obtain the exact values of their spectral dimensions, which turn out to depend only on the branching degree of these structures. The results show that the spectral dimension is a universal quantity largely disorder independent provided that some boundedness conditions are satisfied; its values are also always less than 2, so that these branched structures are all recursive graphs


Global optimization models in many problems suffer from high computational costs due to the need for performing high‐fidelity simulation models for objective function evaluations. Metamodeling is a useful approach to dealing with this problem in which a fast surrogate model replaces the detailed simulation model. However, training of the surrogate model needs enough input‐output data which in case of absence of observed data, each of them must be obtained by running the simulation model and may still cause computational difficulties. In this paper a new metamodeling approach called adaptive sequentially space filling (ASSF) is presented by which the regions in the search space that need more training data are sequentially identified and the process of design of experiments is performed adaptively. Performance of the ASSF approach is tested against a benchmark function optimization problem and optimum basin‐scale water allocation problems, in which the MODSIM river basin decision support system is approximated. Results show the ASSF model with fewer actual function evaluations is able to find comparable solutions to other metamodeling techniques using random sampling and evolution control strategies.


The study determined the values and moral education integration among faculty members of the school education at West Visayas State University. Descriptive correlational type of research was utilized in the study. Results showed that faculty members were seen by students as integrating values in their teaching learning activities the faculty member are seen by students as integrating morals in their teaching and learning activities and value and moral integration are correlated and interrelated.


Global financial crisis of 2008 had strong influence on world markets, where emerging and less developed ones were affected the most, their recovery lasted longer, and it still lasts. Zagreb Stock Exchange (ZSE) main index, CROBEX, reached its all-time high value (ATH) on January 4, 2008 with 5.292,14 points , while all-time low was reached on March 9, 2009 (1.239,17 points). Years later, CROBEX is still performing much closer to its lowest values, with the best result of 2.006,24 points in 2016 (highest value on 10.10.2016.). Just a few days of 2017 were enough for CROBEX to break the psychological 2.000 points barrier, yet economic environment in Croatia has suddenly become destabilized and it stopped one more local stock exchange recovery attempt in March. One of the biggest regional food and beverages producers, distributor and retail chain was put under procedure of compulsory administration, based on the "Law on Extraordinary Administration Procedure in Enterprises of Systematic Importance for the Republic of Croatia" («Lex Agrokor»), which affected stock prices of companies that are part of this concern, but also their suppliers and market in general. Since then, CROBEX has been moving around 1800-1900 points, and its liquidity has deteriorated. As stock market trends represent a useful tool, or better to say an indicator of the financial system and economic development level, this paper analyses recent movements on ZSE.


This paper shows the design, fabrication and characterization of novel micromechanical resonators with Bloch-mode resonance by creating defects on a two-dimensional (2-D) silicon phononic crystal (PnC) slab. The PnC slab was made by etching a square array of cylindrical air holes in a 10 μm thick free-standing silicon plate, while the defects are created by replacing periodically arranged three rows of air holes with one row of air holes at the centre of the PnC region. The radius of the central air holes (r') is also varied to study the effect of r' on the performance of the PnC resonators. Piezoelectric aluminium nitride (AlN) film is employed as the inter-digital transducers (IDT) to transmit and detect acoustic waves, thus making the whole microfabrication process CMOS-compatible. We also fabricate a pure PnC structure with a stopband of 140 MHz <; f <;195 MHz which agrees quite well with the simulation results. The characterized resonant frequency of microfabricated PnC resonators reaches its maximum value (174.67 MHz) when central-hole radius (r') reaches 8 μm, while Q factor reaches maximum (893) at r' = 6 μm. The Bloch-mode PnC resonators based on square lattice PnC structure show promising acoustic resonance characteristics and may be further optimized for applications such as microfluidics, biomedical devices and RF communications in GHz range.


Based on some new robust estimators of the covariance matrix, we propose stable versions of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and we qualify it independently of the dimension of the ambient space. We first provide a robust estimator of the orthogonal projector on the largest eigenvectors of the covariance matrix. The behavior of such an estimator is related to the size of the gap in the spectrum of the covariance matrix and in particular a large gap is needed in order to get a good approximation. To avoid the assumption of a large eigengap in the spectrum of the covariance matrix we propose a robust version of PCA that consists in performing a smooth cut-off of the spectrum via a Lipschitz function. We provide bounds on the approximation error in terms of the operator norm and of the Frobenius norm.


Purpose – The aim of this paper is to analyze the behavioral and affective loyalty of retailer customers in order to establish the role played by loyalty programs in the development of these variables.Design/methodology/approach – Research data were taken from a survey carried out on 750 customers from a Spanish supermarket chain. Several ANOVAs are employed to compare the two loyalty dimensions among participants and non participants in loyalty programs.Findings – The results show that participants in loyalty programs are more behavioral and affectively loyal than non participants. Nevertheless, most customers do not change purchase behavior after joining a loyalty program. The strategy is therefore to retain loyal customers and to achieve the reinforcement of affective bonds linking the customer to the retailer.Practical implications – Companies should focus their efforts on developing a reward plan as adapted as possible to concrete needs of each participant in the program to achieve true loyalty.Origi...


In this essay I analyze the critically acclaimed movie, Birdboy: The Forgotten Children, a dystopic animated film based on the graphic novel Psiconautas. It takes place on an island populated by anthropomorphic animals, most of them young, who live in a time after an industrial accident destroyed the livelihood of its inhabitants. Birdboy and some of his friends try to escape their reality either by taking drugs or by attempting to abandon the island, but they are hunted by police, by the gang of rats that inhabits the dump, and by their hallucinations. In the end, although they do not achieve their goals, Birdboy and his friend Dinky reunite in an inner paradise. Drawing on various theoretical approaches, such as Hannah Arendt's notion of new beginnings and Timothy Morton's sustained project of ecological critique, I study the ways Birdboy represents time and engages with the ethics of the future. Birdboy's universe is marked by emotional, physical, and temporal accumulation. The interconnection of sentient and non-sentient beings on the island shows the impact of legacies and the difficulty of creating radical new beginnings. Birdboy's story is ultimately a call for responsibility for the future rooted in the awareness that everything leaves a trace.


Stephen K. Donovan Department of Palaeontology, Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum, Naturalis, Postbus 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands Among the factors which limit the maximum size to which an arthropod can grow are the weight of the exoskeleton and the soft parts of the body, which place a restriction on the strength of the legs, and the limitations imposed by the open blood circulatory system of arthropods, which is less efficient than the closed system of vertebrates. Despite these difficulties, a number of groups of large arthropods existed during the Palaeozoic. For example, Upper Carboniferous dragonflies with wingspans greater than 600 mm are well known from fossils, and the coeval myriapod Arthropleura grew to a maximum length of about 2 m. Perhaps best known among these giant Palaeozoic arthropods are the eurypterids, or giant sea scorpions, an order within the Merostomata. The eurypterids are a group of fossil arthropods which range from the Lower Ordovician to Permian. The group attained its maximum distribution and


This study aims to determine the effect of service quality and price on customer satisfaction of the Lima Sekawan garage in Blitar. This type of research is quantitative research. The sample in this study were 100 respondents. The sampling method is using accidental sampling. Techniques of collecting data with questionnaires, data analysis tools used are classical assumptions. The results of classical assumptions show that all service quality variables, prices, customer satisfaction are in the normal line and have similar variance. Hypothesis testing using the t test shows that there is a significant positive influence between service quality variables on customer satisfaction and price on customer satisfaction, and the largest contribution test results (dominance test) shows the results of the service quality variable has the biggest influence on customer satisfaction.


PURPOSE: An apparatus and a method for enabling trick play and seek functions over the entire section of the contents including un-downloaded parts in a download-and-play service are provided to enable a trick play function and a search function for un-downloaded contents in a content receiving apparatus. CONSTITUTION: A contents transmission server(101) transmits the contents to a contents receiving device(103) through a contents transmission network(102), and a user command receiving unit(103-a) receives the command for the contents for specific point and section. An internal storage(103-b) stores the contents that the contents transmission server provides, and an internal storage management unit(103-c) updates and merges the section information for the contents, stored at the internal storage, in an optimal state. When the contents point or the contents thereof exist in the internal storage, a contents transmission server control unit(103-d) transfers the corresponding contents to a contents output device(104).


The vast advantages of Mach Zehnder Modulator (MZM) have ignited the interest of many to explore more on its capability and improve on its limitation. Lithium Niobate (LiNbO3) is among the substrate that is preferred due to its stability at high temperature and its nonlinear effect. However, there are a lot of rooms to be explored on the power consumption. This paper is to investigate the waveguide structure designs and titanium diffusion thickness with low insertion loss (IL) and high extinction ratio (ER) which resulted in low power consumption. The rib area, arm length, the thickness of the titanium, length of Iz and Ix of the MZM were varied to get the optimum design. The analysis has been done using OptiBPM software. The best performance of MZM in this paper is with 3.2 V switching voltage, IL is less than 0.2 dB and ER is 37.9 dB. With low switching voltage, the power required by this modulator also low but still can provide low IL and high ER.


How can a large scale, multi-state, collaborative workforce development project be evaluated? This article describes the evaluation process of the Midwest Center for Information Technology (MCIT). The project uses "impact threads" to connect the outcomes of the project to strategic evaluation questions. The MCIT project, involving 10 public two-year colleges located in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota, strives to assist partner colleges in enhancing information technology training and related degree programs. The MCIT was funded as a regional center within the Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program of the National Science Foundation (NSF). This article details the evaluation plan for the center, including how selected data is systematically mapped to impact threads and further illustrates the evaluation process by providing some examples of MCIT's progress. Online Journal of Workforce Education and Development Volume II, Issue 4 – Fall 2007 3 Introduction Workforce development today can be challenging. Workforce development in the information technology (IT) field can be particularly daunting. Few people would disagree that human knowledge and the technologies supporting such knowledge development are expanding at an amazing rate. A quick review of the history of the Internet will represent this rapid knowledge expansion and recent estimates of Internet growth suggest there are now over one billion users (Internet World Stats, 2006). However, even with such impressive expansion, the employment field represented by the information technology workforce has suffered considerably in the past decade (Hagedorn, 2005; Sargent, 2004). Setbacks from various national events, including the terrorist attacks of September 11, the collapse of various dot-com organizations, and an end to work related to Y2K have challenged employment opportunities in the IT field. It is a complex world where needs in the national IT workforce struggle to be heard over other issues such as national security, health reform, and disaster relief (such as with Hurricane Katrina). Yet IT workforce development has been recognized as critical to the overall health and economy of the United States and calls for confronting a "digital workforce crisis" have resonated loudly from our federal and state policy makers (ITAA, 2005; National Policy Association, 2002). The worker who enters the information technology field today finds a profession with a wide range of occupational demands (Hagedorn, 2005). A strong background in selected technical skills is no longer adequate for such an occupation and IT professionals are increasingly challenged in various soft skill areas such as personal communications, leadership, teamwork, and dynamic problem solving (Bailey & Stephaniak, 2002). Although the federal government is working hard to support IT workforce development, it is the individual states that need to most directly address this important workforce development area. Historically, technology based economic development has been the responsibility of state and local governments" (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1999, 2002). Community colleges and other two-year educational institutions are now at the forefront in addressing IT workforce development needs within the states (California State Legislature, 2002; Kerr, 2002). Despite the economic employment recession attributable to September 11 and the other challenges mentioned, employment within the information technology fields is once again growing. Employment projections published by the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (2005), through the year 2014, document that IT careers comprise 40% of the top 10 fastest growing occupations. Despite the demand, student enrollments in IT courses are not keeping pace. Many professional organizations, such as the Information Technology of America (ITAA), are now calling to more than double the IT workforce within the next 10 years and to assist educational institutions at all levels in better meeting this demand (ITAA, 2005). Such calls for workforce development efforts also include addressing an under-representation of women and minorities within the IT field (Congressional Commission on the Advancement of Women and Minorities in Science, Biology and Technology Development, September 2000; Margolis & Fisher, 2002). The importance of IT workforce development is growing and some authors are now identifying this increasingly important national effort as an evolving "war for talent" (Kaihla, 2003; Smith, 2006) that is facing our nation. Online Journal of Workforce Education and Development Volume II, Issue 4 – Fall 2007 4 The challenging professional context represents the complexity of information technology workforce recruitment and education. Increasingly, 2-year educational institutions are finding it difficult to go it alone in IT workforce development and realizing that effective collaboration may be necessary. It was in such a dynamic environment that 10 public two-year colleges in the four states of Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota came together in 2001 to form a collaborative initiative and organization entitled the "Midwest Center for Information Technology." The Midwest Center for Information Technology The information technology workforce development crisis has been well recognized in the Midwest, by the Applied Information Management (AIM) Institute. AIM is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Omaha, Nebraska. It is run like a for-profit business and dedicated to assisting economic development related to the integration of information technology and technology innovations across the Midwest region. When the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education program published a call for proposals for establishing Regional Centers related to Information Technology Workforce Development and Education, AIM contacted 10 public two-year colleges within a four-state region (of Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota) and submitted a proposal. Subsequently, NSF funded the formation of MCIT. The 10 participating colleges, ranging from small to large, rural to urban, and vocational/technical to comprehensive and included: Central Community College (NE); Iowa Western Community College (IA); Metropolitan Community College (NE); Mid-Plains Community College (NE); North Dakota State College of Science (ND); Northeast Community College (NE); Southeast Community College (NE); Southeast Technical Institute (SD); Western Iowa Technical Community College (IA); and Western Nebraska Community College (NE). These diverse colleges educate approximately 50,000 students annually. This represents 43% of the public two-year college student population of the entire four-state region. The Applied Information Management Institute serves as the fiscal agent and general project facilitator for the four-state consortium of public two-year colleges comprising the Midwest Center for Information Technology. In order to address the region's shortage of information technology professionals and the growing needs in this critical career field, the MCIT provides an integrated series of activities that focus on curriculum adaptation, faculty development, workforce development, articulation, and dissemination. A Site Coordinator (faculty member), working under the direction of the Chief Instructional Officers from each participating college, along with the NSF grant's Principal Investigators and a business-driven Advisory Committee, direct the implementation of project activities. Five aggressive objectives were carefully planned and initiated from the very beginnings of MCIT (2001), which included: (a) to increase the number of MCIT college faculty who held industry-validated information technology certification,( b) to increase the number of high school students articulating to MCIT college IT programs, (c) to increase the number of MCIT college students completing IT programs of study, (d) to increase the MCIT college graduates who articulate to 4-year college and university IT programs, and (e) to decrease the number of unfilled IT positions. Online Journal of Workforce Education and Development Volume II, Issue 4 – Fall 2007 5 An Evolving Evaluation Strategy The Midwest Center for Information Technology proposal to the National Science Foundation included an original objective-based evaluation process that was initially undertaken by the MCIT leadership and used for the first three years of project funding. This strategy sought to examine each objective, collect data relative to that objective, and then to report on the progress of each individual objective and activity. This evaluation process was very common across the NSF's Advanced Technologies in Education (ATE) program for funded projects and was helpful in starting the project and establishing a formative evaluation process. However, the NSF leadership of the ATE program, as represented by various program officers within that program, observed that such objective-based evaluations were not truly providing the sort of analyses that might lead to refereed publications and more general manuscripts that could inform the professional literature. In addition, such objective-based evaluations did not make it very easy for participating two-year colleges to contribute to the professional literature. Faculty at twoyear colleges (ATE requires some level of two-year college leadership) were generally less experienced in developing research-based publications, and thus less likely to go from their objective-based evaluation report, to the publication of a manuscript based on that report. To address this perceived dissemination need, in the Fall of 2006, the ATE program officers held an evaluation conference for regional and national centers that encouraged each of these centers to establish their own focused research questions of investigative interest. These questions were to be of inter


Background. Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a pathological condition caused by the reflux of gastric contents into the esophagus, with symptoms that appear inside and outside the esophagus which can reduce the patient's quality of life. The aim study is to analyze the relationship between the severity of GERD and the quality of life of students Faculty of Medicine at Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) in 2019 and 2020.
Method. Cross-sectional research with a sampling technique in the form of total sampling. Data collection was carried out using an online questionnaire in the form of a Google form with an assessment using the GERD Questionnaire (GerdQ), Frequency scale for the symptoms of GERD (FSSG), Gastroesophageal reflux disease-health related quality of life questionnaire (GERD-HRQL), and the 20-item self-reporting questionnaire (SRQ-20). After that, the data that has been collected will be tabulated. This study used bivariate analysis, with the Chi-square test and the Fisher Exact Test.
Results. The total number of samples that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study was 225 people with 41 people with GERD (18.2%) suffering from GERD. Of the 41 Students of the Faculty of Medicine from USU in 2019 and 2020 with GERD, 29 people (70.7%) had a good quality of life, and the remaining 12 people (29.3%) had a bad quality of life. There is a relationship between GERD and gender and psychological stress. In addition, there is a relationship between quality of life and the severity of GERD, psychological stress, and drinking alcohol, but there is no relationship between quality of life and gender, smoking habits, and BMI.
Conclusion. Most Medical School Students have a good quality of life, and there is a significant relationship between the severity of GERD and the quality of life.


An accurate modeling method for the random error of the fiber optic gyro (FOG) is presented. Taking the FOG in the inertial measurement unit of one specific inertial navigation system as the subject investigated, the method is composed of the data acquisition, preprocessing, establishing the FOG AR(2) model and performing Kalman filtering based on the model. The filtering result and the Allan variance analysis of FOG prove that the method effectively reduces the FOG random error, decreasing the angle random walk, zero-bias instability, rate random walk, angular rate ramp and quantification noise of FOG signals to less than one half of the corresponding values before the filtering of FOG random errors, which improves the accuracy of FOG.


Introduction Endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) is a well-established and effective therapeutic option for patients that meet certain criteria. However, this modality is not well studied in patients with pre-existing disability. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of mechanical thrombectomy in patients with acute onset ischemic stroke and pre-stroke dependency (PSD) in regard to their clinical outcome and mortality. Materials and Methods The MEDLINE, Scopus, and Cochrane Library databases were comprehensively searched with a cut-off date of December 11th, 2021. We performed meta-analysis to investigate the 90-day clinical outcome, the 90-day mortality, and the rate of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH) between the PSD (modified Rankin Scale score ≥ 3) and non-PSD (modified Rankin Scale score = 0–2) groups who underwent EVT for acute onset ischemic stroke. Results Six studies were included in the meta-analysis involving 4,543 cases with no PSD and 591 cases with PSD. The non-PSD group showed a statistically significant better clinical outcome at 90 days compared to the PSD group [RR (95% CI) = 1.44 (1.06, 1.85); pz = 0.02]. The non-PSD group demonstrated a statistically significant lower risk of death at 90 days in comparison to the PSD group [RR (95% CI) = 0.45 (0.41, 0.50); pz < 0.01]. Lastly, the rate of sICH was comparable between the two groups [RR (95% CI) = 0.89 (0.64, 1.24); pz = 0.48]. Discussion We report a higher rate of unfavorable clinical outcome and a higher mortality rate in patients with PSD undergoing EVT compared to those with no previous disability. However, there was a significant proportion of PSD cases who fared well post-procedurally, indicating that PSD patients should not be routinely excluded from mechanical thrombectomy. Systematic Review Registration https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42021284181, identifier: CRD42021284181.


Exporters are vital to the health of the U.S. economy as well as to individual state economies. As such, this study analyzes the export-related provisions of the southeastern states' income tax laws and proposes tax policy changes that could potentially improve the tax environment for exporters while enhancing the overall economic environment in those states. In order to develop and support tax policy recommendations relating to state's tax treatment of exporters, statistics that highlight the importance of exports to the domestic economy are reviewed. In addition, a summary of Federal tax law incentives available to exporters is provided along with several Treasury Department studies that estimate the impact the federal tax law incentives have had on the volume of exports. Also, key issues under state income tax laws regarding the treatment of export transactions are highlighted while providing a comparative analysis of the southeastern states' treatment of export transactions using foreign sales corporations (FSC). The results of this study demonstrate not only that disparity among the southeastern states treatment of exporters exists, but also that the method used by state governments to tax FSCs could impact the extent to which corporations find it desirable to export their goods from a particular state. Based on these findings, the authors suggest the adoption of administrative pricing rules (similar to the rules in place for Federal tax purposes) for FSCs by states not currently allowing these rules, which would decrease the effective tax rate on export sales. The reduction in taxes could ultimately provide an incentive for domiciled corporations to increase exporting activities, contributing to increased domestic jobs and overall economic activity.